Wednesday at 6 a.m., almost 40,000 Verizon workers from MA to Virginia began a strike after their unions failed to reach a labor agreement with the telecom giant.
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The strike could impact Verizon’s Fios internet, phone and TV services across several states but does not include the wireless business.
About 36,000 Verizon workers represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) walked off their jobs early Wednesday, eight months after their contracts expired. On the other hand, Verizon says that because medical expenses have grown, there are health care issues that need to be addressed for both retirees and workers.
The unions went on strike in 2011 while negotiating their last contract, with the walkout lasting about two weeks.
The workers got a boost from Democratic candidate for president Bernie Sanders, who joined them at a Brooklyn rally ahead of next week’s NY primary.
“I know your families are going to pay a price”, Sanders shouted.
A Verizon spokesman says the company has been trying to work with union leadership for the past few months to come up with a fair contract.
Verizon Communications Inc., which has a total workforce of more than 177,000 employees, said in a statement Tuesday that the company was contacted by federal mediators and is willing to sit down and continue negotiation talks, if the unions agree to hold off on their strike.
“It’s regrettable that union leaders have called a strike, a move that hurts all of our employees”, Marc Reed, Verizon’s chief administrative officer, said in a statement. “We’ve seen our workers give up a lot over the last couple contracts and I don’t think we can give up any more”. “The main thing is that’s it’s taking good-paying jobs and taking them away from the American public”, says one union board member.
“We’re exhausted of fighting with the company”, Mr. Panzerino said.
They are also against the increasing number of jobs being outsourced by Verizon to low-wage, non-union contractors, and taken umbrage at Verizon’s alleged refusal to negotiate a new contract with the Verizon Wireless retail employees who formed the Verizon Workers Rising union in 2014.
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Standing on the sidewalk Wednesday morning with a sign around his neck announcing the latest strike against Verizon, employee Kurt Stover was buoyed by the public’s response.
